Deakin University researcher Ronan Lee believes Australia鈥檚 links with the Burmese military must stop in light of its recent campaign of violence against the Rohingya.
Lee, whose research focus is Burma, made these comments at a Darebin Ethnic Communities Council forum on Burma the Rohingya refugee crisis held on September 16.
Lee gave some historical background, noting there is evidence that the Rohingya have lived in what is now Burma鈥檚 Rakhine state for hundreds of years.
The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) welcomed the resignation on September 13 of the head of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) Nigel Hadgkiss.
The union had called for his resignation after it succeeded in having Hadgkiss confess in the Federal Court to a reckless breach of the industrial laws he oversees.
Hadgkiss admitted to a contravention of s503 of the Fair Work Act in relation to the ABCC's publication of incorrect information about union right of entry rules.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions launched its national 鈥淐hange the Rules鈥 campaign in Perth on September 21. The campaign seeks to push for pro-worker changes to the Fair Work Act.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus said: 鈥淲e need to change the rules at work so working people can鈥檛 be held to ransom by bad employers who will use loopholes to cancel agreements, cut pay and slash conditions.鈥
In front of a packed public gallery, Labor sided with the Liberals to award the Inner West Council mayorship and deputy mayorship to themselves on September 21.
Labor鈥檚 Darcy Byrne received the support of two Liberals and conservative independent Victor Macri for mayor, with Liberal councillor Julie Passas elected as deputy.
Byrne and Passas narrowly defeated anti-WestConnex independent Pauline Lockie and the Greens鈥 Colin Hesse, who stood for mayor and deputy, respectively, in an 8鈥7 vote.
Staff at the Berkeley Living retirement village in Patterson Lakes, Victoria, walked off the job on September 15 after months of not being paid. Some staff returned the next day to look after residents on a voluntary basis.
Consumer Affairs Victoria is also investigating reports that the village operators owe money to former residents.
The daughter of a former resident backed up claims that staff had not been paid properly, but said they were providing the best care they were able to. 鈥淭hey are feeding the patients out of their own pockets,鈥 she told ABC News.
A new research report from the Queensland Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) has revealed that any move by the Queensland state government to approve the Acland coalmine expansion would represent an unprecedented and radical departure from recent tradition.
The following statement from the Australia Burma Rohingya Organisation was read by Habib to a solidarity protest in Melbourne on September 7.
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Today we raise our voices on behalf of the oppressed Rohingya and Kaman people, who are facing ongoing genocide in the Rakhine [Arakan] state of western Myanmar [Burma].
We are also protesting the continuous wars being waged against minorities in the Shan and Kachin states.
for being 鈥渋rresponsible鈥 for 鈥減ropagandising鈥 about the colonial invasion and subsequent massacres of First Nations people.
He also takes issue with my support for the growing number of councils across Australia that are leading the debate on the so-called history wars and deciding against celebrating on聽January 26聽in favour of something more inclusive.
Up to 800 people rallied in Martin Place against the genocide of the Rohingya ethnic minority in Burma on September 17. The protest was organised by the Sydney Press and Media Council.
Hundreds and thousands of Rohingya, including women and children, have been displaced from their homeland in Rakhine, Burma and forced to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh.
The protest highlighted the mass killings of Rohingya community, including women and children, under the leadership of Nobel Peace Prize winner Ang Sang Suu Kyi and the military regime in Burma.
[This blog is no longer being updated. Here is an initial report that appears with photos in the latest issue of 麻豆传媒 Weekly.]
Saturday 23 September, 8am
Local activists posted a pledge on the :